Christian Porter took a calculated risk when he quit as Western Australia's Treasurer to pursue a career in federal politics and he's not hedging his bets now.

Key points:

Christian Porter was a high-flying WA MP before moving to federal politics

His safe seat of Pearce has become increasingly marginal in recent years

The ALP, unions and GetUp have spent large amounts trying to unseat him

He says there is no plan B if this Saturday's election does not go his way.

"That whole exercise [of leaving state politics] was very heavy with risks of a whole range of types," Mr Porter said.

"It had occurred to me that federal politics is often very tough, particularly with very large seats, particularly with boundaries being re-drawn, so anyone who didn't want to have personal political risk would not have done that."

Mr Porter was poised to become Western Australia's next Liberal Premier, but decided his ambitions went beyond merely leading the state.

He also correctly picked the changing political winds, quitting state politics on a high in 2012 before then premier Colin Barnett's popularity took a turn, leading to a thumping election loss in 2017.

From safe to marginal in six years

Mr Porter jumped onto the federal stage in the 2013 election that swept the Abbott government to power as the member for Pearce, back when it was considered an unlosable seat for the Liberals.

He set about quickly rising in seniority within the Coalition, entering Cabinet in 2015 as social services minister before being promoted to Attorney-General.

But Mr Porter might have underestimated how much Pearce would become a problem for him just two elections later.

A 5.6 per cent swing against him in 2013 converted his safe seat into a marginal one, which he now holds by just 3.6 per cent.

Mr Porter said it was "very generous" for anyone to consider him future leadership material.

"But you can't do anything in politics unless you first win your seat and you do not achieve anything in politics unless you are part of a team.

"I have no particular ambitions to [become Prime Minister]. What I want to do is win my seat."

The Liberals' next big things

Mr Porter is among several high-profile Liberals viewed as the next generation of leaders who the party is desperate to see hang on come Saturday.

"I think that could be a theme of the election," Mr Bowe said.

"If it does go very badly for the Liberals and they are reduced to a core of safe seats, then they are going to have a clear out of members of seats which are not the safest, who tend to be the younger, rising stars of the party.

"And that is the kind of face that they need to present to the public going forward."

Canning MP Andrew Hastie is one such "rising star" the Liberals — particularly the conservative side of the party — want to see win.

While his seat appears much safer than Mr Porter's, with a margin of 6.8 per cent in an electorate with a high proportion of retirees, Prime Minister Scott Morrison's presence in Canning during the election campaign shows the Liberals do not want to take any chances.

"Undoubtedly he is a rising star of the conservative end of the Liberal Party," Mr Bowe said.

"There is a point of view that the conservative end of the party has been too assertive in recent years with the Peter Dutton leadership challenge.